For home and gift shops, the retail landscape is more competitive than ever. Since these stores sell a lot of what consumers might consider commodities, it’s easy to lose on establishments selling the same items for less.
Fortunately, your business doesn’t need to undergo the same fate. With some creative and modern tactics, you’ll manage to differentiate yourself and win over customers without competing on price or products.
Read on for more information:
Design a distinctive in-store experience
Shopping at your Boutique cadeau must certainly be anything but ordinary. Don’t just place items on your shelves and call them each day; make it an indicate design a customer experience that folks will remember.
Oklahoma, an independent store in Manchester that sells sets from cactus lemon juicers to handmade jewelry, does this incredibly well. The store is frequently called an Aladdin’s Cave, as it allows shoppers to find great finds and treasures.
Leverage technology
Technology won’t only ease many operational burdens, and it may also improve your customer’s in-store experience. Of course, the types of solutions you should adopt will depend on your business. Below are a few types of how other retailers are leveraging technology inside their stores:
Mobile POS
If you’re still using a cash register to handle your retail business, consider adopting a new point of sale system to streamline various business processes and enhance the shopping experience.
Many points of sale solutions nowadays go beyond simply permitting you to ring up sales. Plenty of them has inventory and customer management features that may make running your store a whole lot easier.
When it comes to the in-store experience, these solutions allow associates to help shoppers better. Tablet-based tools allow them to serve customers from anywhere in the store, and mPOS systems can reduce lines at checkout, so customers can get what they require much faster.
Robust reporting and analytics
Having access to the proper insights can assist you in making more intelligent business decisions. This is why it pays to buy reporting and analytics technology that’ll assist you in collecting and analyzing the information you need.
Most modern POS solutions have their particular reporting features, so if you’re already using one, make sure to make the most of your provider’s data and analytics tools. Ideally, you’ll want an answer that tracks important retail metrics, including revenue, margins, profit, conversions, and more.
Customer relationship management
Arm your business with a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that will allow you to get customer data, which you can use to drive loyalty and repeat purchases.
Add value through services.
Providing services that your customers can’t get from other homeware or gift stores is an effective way to set yourself aside from competitors and add value to the shopping experience. Here are a few things you can try:
Gift wrapping: Consider offering gift-wrapping services in your store. Not only can it serve as an easy selection for shoppers, but it may put extra revenue in your pocket at the same time. Even when the service itself is complimentary, you can use boxes and wrappers as upsells to shoppers.
Consultations: According to which kind of store you’re running, you can provide consultations to help customers make the proper purchases.
Classes or events: Bring people together in your shop for a few hours of learning and mingling. Many forward-thinking retailers are now holding in-store classes and events that drive traffic, sales, and customer engagement.
